Interlinguistic Studies in Poznan

The post-graduate program in Interlinguistic Studies came into being at the Institute of Linguistics in 1997. Under the direction of Dr Ilona Koutny, the program is the first - and so far only - of its kind in Poland and one of only very few in the world. The first students began their studies in the academic year 1998/99 and the third group will finish their studies in September 2008.

The program is international in nature. Lecturers who are eminent specialists in their fields are invited from abroad every semester and conduct classes during the week-long session. Two years ago, for example, phonetics classes were led by the world renowned John Wells of Britain. This year there were lectures by Prof. Humphrey Tonkin, the former president of Hartford university and a recognized specialist in linguistic problems in international communication and Shakespearean literature.

Admission is open to both Polish and foreign students. The entering class of 2005/06 was made up of 25 students from 13 countries (besides students from Poland there were also students from Germany, France, Italy, Slovakia, Slovenia, Croatia, Russia, Ukraine, Hungary, Lithuania, Japan and Iran). Interest in the studies has steadily grown both inside and outside Poland. New students can begin their studies in September 2008 (deadline: 15.08.2008).

The three-year course of studies includes classes from general and applied linguistics (morphology, syntax, semantics, pragmatics) and international languages – both ethnic languages which have filled such a role from Aramaic, through Latin to English and planned languages, from the philosophical languages of the Middle Ages through Esperanto to the latest proposals. The teaching language is Esperanto.

The focus of the studies is Esperanto as the only planned language to have spread across the world. The grammar, literature and history of Esperanto are examined in depth. Another important component of the studies is intercultural communication.